E-Paper
Panchkula man loses ₹19 lakh in online trading scam
Accused saw a link online from where he came in contact with fraudsters who made him transfer money through an app on the pretext of buying shares
A 56-year-old resident of Officer Transit Flats in Sector 12, lost ₹18.79 lakh to cyber fraudsters, police said. Jagminder Singh mentioned in his police complaint that he came across an online trading advertisement on Facebook promising daily profits of 10% to 20%.
After he shared his personal details online, he received a WhatsApp message from a woman who identified herself as Aarti Bhalla, claiming to be an assistant to some trading expert from Kotak Securities Limited. He was added to a WhatsApp group containing approximately 150 members where discussions revolved around profits from stock trading with specific buy and sell recommendations daily.
After a few days, Bhalla directly messaged Singh and shared a link to download an app — Kotak QIB — where he got himself registered. On May 16, he transferred ₹50,000 to buy shares. He further paid ₹10 lakh on May 18. Following instructions, he sold his initial shares on May 19 and the app’s balance reflected a profit of ₹58,727. Encouraged by this, he paid them ₹60,000 on May 19, ₹1.99 lakh on May 20, ₹1 lakh on May 22, ₹2 lakh on May 26, ₹70,000 on June 3 and ₹11 lakh on June 4, bringing his total investment to ₹18.79 lakh. The app then showed a total profit of ₹1.10 crore.
When Singh attempted to withdraw ₹1.20 lakh on June 10 for his son’s marriage, he was unable to do so. Upon inquiring, the fraudsters informed him that his entire invested amount was invested/pledged in IPOs and that attempting to withdraw it would constitute a breach of contract, incurring a heavy penalty. When Singh explained he needed the money for his son’s wedding, they demanded an additional ₹8 lakh to facilitate the withdrawal of the entire amount.
Since no money was left with him, he discussed it with his son and the police complaint was registered. The cyber crime police station said an FIR was registered and further investigation was underway.
